Ninja Crow, Transcription Seal, Izanagi

Forest of Death.

Shinji shook off Root's pursuit, then deliberately circled Konoha several times. Only after confirming he had completely lost his tail did he head straight into this forbidden land.

He deliberately stayed far from the central tower, venturing deep into a desolate area strewn with broken stones.

Ahead stood an irregularly shaped trapezoidal boulder—his prearranged camouflage.

Shinji braced both hands against the edge of the stone, tensed his arms, lowered his center of gravity, and pushed with force. He shoved the massive boulder more than a meter aside, revealing a concealed entrance leading downward.

He leaped inside and lightly descended along the wooden ladder he had set up beforehand.

Beneath his feet was a cramped space of roughly thirty square meters, with a ceiling about two meters high.

This was the secret base he had spent nearly six days excavating bit by bit.

The Sharingan scrolls that had originally been hidden inside the giant tree had long since been retrieved and were now neatly arranged in niches carved into the rock wall.

A folding camp bed sat in one corner, covered with a thin blanket and large enough for one person to rest on. Hidden ventilation openings had been cut into the wall, connecting to the roots of the giant tree. The floor was covered with dry straw and coarse burlap, both muffling sound and warding off the damp chill underground.

Shinji took out a flint from his Ninja Tool Pouch and, with a sharp scrape, lit the three oil lamps hanging from the earthen walls.

Dim yet steady light instantly filled the entire chamber, driving away the gloom lurking in its depths.

Looking at the hideout he had built and arranged with his own hands, Shinji's lips curled slightly into a relaxed smile.

"I'll expand it bit by bit later. Maybe I can build an underground villa in the Forest of Death."

The joke loosened his tense nerves somewhat.

He closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed, calming his breath as he restored his chakra, mental strength, and physical stamina to their peak one by one.

Once he was fully recovered, Shinji took three scrolls from his robes and flicked them onto the ground. They unfurled neatly, each bearing one large character: "Medical," "Medicine," and "Techniques." Dense sealing runes glimmered faintly beneath the lamplight.

Shinji rapidly formed hand seals, undoing all three layers of seals at once.

Buzz—

The empty base was instantly filled with supplies of every kind.

The "Medical" scroll unfurled to reveal a complete medical kit: scalpels, hemostatic forceps, tweezers, gauze, chakra-conducting needles, and everything else he could need;

Beside the "Medicine" scroll were neatly arranged Ration Pills, disinfecting alcohol, hemostatic gel, universal antidotes, and various healing ointments;

The "Techniques" scroll released a simple folding operating table and a set of plain medical protective clothing.

Shinji stepped forward, put on the protective clothing, then took a thin-bladed scalpel from the medical kit. After a simple disinfection, he rolled up the sleeve covering his left arm and lightly cut the inside of his wrist.

The blade was incredibly sharp. A two-centimeter wound immediately opened, and blood slowly dripped down along his wrist bone.

Shinji merely frowned slightly, his expression unchanged.

Pale green chakra flared from his right hand, condensing into a chakra Scalpel that precisely severed some of the nerves around the wound.

A faint numbness soon spread through his left arm, and its sensation gradually dulled.

Twenty minutes later, Shinji stopped. Cold sweat already covered his forehead.

"That should be enough."

He slowly walked to the rock wall and opened the sealed container storing the Sharingan.

Two eyeballs soaked inside the container, suspended in pale yellow culture fluid.

He removed one of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. It felt slick and soft to the touch, with fine bundles of nerves still attached around its edges. The cold, slippery sensation made him slightly uncomfortable.

"Endure it. I have to endure it."

Shinji took a deep breath, forced down his discomfort, and pressed the Sharingan directly into the wound on his left arm.

The human body in this world possessed roughly one hundred and thirty trillion cells, every single one containing life force far beyond that of ordinary people. It was this life force that supported ninjas in performing countless bizarre ninjutsu and Taijutsu.

It seemed organ transplantation was not as difficult as he had imagined.

Besides, Sharingan could be "hot-swapped" in the first place.

After Madara Uchiha tore the Sharingan from Kakashi's eye, he implanted it into his own left eye on the spot and could use it immediately.

Shinji remembered that point perfectly clearly.

The instant the Sharingan embedded itself into his flesh, he immediately activated the Mystical Palm Technique.

Gentle, pure healing chakra continuously flowed into the wound, forcibly accelerating the fusion of the Sharingan with the muscles, blood vessels, and nerves in his left arm.

One minute, five minutes, ten minutes.

A full half hour passed.

Then suddenly, a sharp and distinct sensation burst forth from his left arm.

Shinji closed his eyes and raised his left arm before him.

The Sharingan embedded in his flesh turned slightly, its three tomoe slowly rotating.

He could actually clearly "see" every corner of the secret base through the eye on his arm.

"It worked!"

Shinji's heart jolted, and he could not help blurting it out.

"This perspective was simply unprecedented."

He raised his arm as if examining a toy, closed his eyes, and relied on the rotation of the Sharingan on his left arm to turn in a circle within the cramped space like a boy who had just received a new toy.

"I really wonder what it feels like for that guy Danzo to have an entire arm full of Sharingan. It must be a true three hundred and sixty degrees with no blind spots."

He muttered a complaint under his breath.

Shinji took two Ration Pills from the medicine box and swallowed them. Their effects quickly turned into a warm current, restoring his depleted Chakra.

The oil lamp in the base flickered dimly. The successfully transplanted Three-Tomoe Sharingan on his left arm rotated quietly, reflecting every corner of the secret chamber with perfect clarity.

He took a deep breath and gently placed his right hand over the eyeball.

It was time.

"Transcription Seal—Activate—"

Pale blue sealing patterns intertwined with scarlet eye-light, condensing into a tiny yet stable jutsu mark on his arm.

"Izanagi!"

A layer of pale white aura suddenly surged around Shinji, and Chakra flooded toward the Sharingan on his left arm like raging waves.

But in the next second, the sealing mark began to shake violently. Its light flickered erratically, while the once-bright three tomoe rapidly dimmed.

"Not good!"

A violent ocular power continuously battered the seal, nearly smashing the jutsu apart completely.

His Transcription Seal had only just reached the beginner level. Its rank was too low; it simply could not suppress this ultimate Uchiha forbidden technique.

Without the slightest hesitation, Shinji willed it and directly summoned the System Panel, using the items in his inventory.

He instantly applied two A-Rank Skill Upgrade Vouchers to the Transcription Seal.

[Transcription Seal Lv0→Lv2]

A flash of understanding flooded his mind. Hand signs, patterns, Chakra control—every obscure point became incomparably clear in an instant.

His gaze sharpened. The previously chaotic, rampaging Chakra instantly fell back into place, and his hand signs became faster, more precise, and steadier.

The crumbling sealing jutsu was pulled straight, reinforced, and locked tight in his hands, as though an invisible giant hand had forcibly set it upright.

"Transcription Seal—Seal!"

The three tomoe on his left arm spun at high speed. Scarlet light flared for an instant before steadily withdrawing.

The power of Izanagi, capable of rewriting reality, was finally completely sealed deep within the eye's core.

A moment later, everything returned to calm.

Izanagi had been successfully sealed.

Shinji dropped to one knee, drenched in cold sweat, yet he could not suppress his laughter.

"Ha ha ha!"

"It worked!"

Panting, he sat back down beside the bed and looked at the quietly rotating Sharingan on his left arm, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The Izanagi sealed within this eye had only one activation condition: the instant his life force vanished, it would activate automatically.

Just like Madara Uchiha back then in the Valley of the End—clearly on the verge of death, yet forcibly surviving from death's edge through this forbidden technique.

And all Shinji needed to do was recreate that scene.

Shinji raised his hands again and formed hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

With a puff, light smoke dispersed, and a sturdy Ninja Crow landed in the center of the base, tilting its head as it surveyed its surroundings.

Shinji reached out and gently smoothed the Ninja Crow's feathers, his smile harmless and friendly.

"Little Ninja Crow, do you want a Sharingan?"

The Ninja Crow shook its head blankly, its face utterly innocent.

"Ahem, ahem. I'll take your lack of objection as agreement."

He gently pressed a hand atop the Ninja Crow's head, and the heavy burden in his heart finally eased a little.